Volunteers sought to be “conversation partners”
Aine is looking for volunteers to help people with speech disabilities, and we have been asked to put the call out. The detail is below:
We are running a Conversation Partner Training Scheme being run by Limerick HSE West speech and language therapists. The scheme hopes to bring together trained volunteers and people with aphasia in Limerick who have little opportunity for conversation. Aphasia is a communication disability which occurs when the communication centres of the brain are damaged. Each person with aphasia experiences it differently, some people can speak, some have only a few words, others can no longer read write or use numbers. Often having aphasia can be very socially isolating. The aim of the scheme would to help increase the social enjoyment, and perhaps confidence, of the person with aphasia, Volunteers will have an opportunity to learn new communication skills, to connect with people who are seldom heard and thought of as hard to reach.
After training volunteers would be matched with a person with aphasia and asked to visit with them once a week, to chat for an hour or so. Research has shown that people with aphasia said that the conversation scheme increased their confidence, made them feel more confident about trying new things and gave them a chance to talk
For more info you can contact Aine Hughes, HSE, Unit 10, Delta Retail Park, Ballysimon Road, Limerick or by telephone on 061-437100